Political observers feel that transparency
and accountabilities are two important elements lacking
with the Sri Lankan government. They further feel that
the Government's disregard and contempt for human rights
of the Tamils have resulted in barbarous acts that have
outraged the conscience of the humanity. Anyhow the
compelling points raised above need truthful answers. Is
it possible to get such answers soon? May be one day the
culprits would come out with the harrowing story? It is
our hope against hope until the naked truth prevails over
half truths, fabricated lies and misinformation
campaigns.

A bang, followed by whimper, little wailing
and a dour appearance in the television with three small
patches of plasters on the face, has done the trick. On
22 December, the acting Commissioner of Elections
announced that, by obtaining 51.12% percent of votes in
the polling held on the previous day, Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunge has won in her re-election bid
for presidency. Whilst the world was amazed at the last
minute turn around of fortune, the oppositions were left
alone whooping at their despondency.

The re-elected President, at a brief
ceremony, took the oath of office as Sri Lanka's fifth
Executive President on the same day afternoon at the
"Temple Trees,' her official residence. Also, on the
same day, a swearing ceremony was held for the same old
faces, who were members in her previous cabinet of
ministers. Finally, on the same day she left for London.

Even though the Presidential election - the
comical circus, at last over, the ramification of this
election still lingers on without any clarity on the
train of events that led to the election victory of
Chandrika Kumaratunge, for a second six-year term. It was
a well-orchestrated mystery drama, could be code named -
"Operation Anugambava" (Sympathy) enacted
cleverly, subsequently legitimized with the aid of the
law enforcement agencies and the international print and
electronic media.

It is alleged that, the bomb explosion and
the assassination bid was a cleverly designed staged
managed PR (Public Relations) ploy, intended to bring
about victory to Chandrika Kumaratunge, by generating
unceasing wave of sympathy, in her re-election bid.
Already, it was confirmed that, Ranil Wickremasinghe, the
Leader of the United National Party (UNP) and the
opposition candidate was gaining support in the midst of
the voters and his chance of victory was high. At this
backdrop, it is alleged that a cleverly devised drama
unfolded on the evening of 18 December 1999, at the
People Alliance (PA) Colombo Town Hall meeting venue.

By 9.30 in the evening, after her address in
the final public rally, she was walking towards her car
waving to her ministers and talking with journalists of
some foreign media. Suddenly, a bomb exploded,
pandemonium broke and people began to run for their life.
The impact of the explosion brought the President
face-down to the rough terrain of the ground. According
to reports, she lay on the ground motionless for sometime
un-noticed. Due to the impact of the explosion she fell
down, her face hitting the ground forcefully and might
have sustained bruises on her face. Analysts have ruled
out the chances for any projectile to have caused her of
any injuries. They are of the opinion that, if she has
sustained any injuries caused by some projectiles, then
there was chances of her being injured in other parts of
her body. Fortunately she was not hit by any projectiles,
but there was every chance for her face to be bruised due
to the heavy impact of her fall. Also there was a chance
for some protruded object or objects, that was in the
ground injuring her.

Immediately, she was whisked away to a
private hospital in Colombo for treatment. Detail
regarding the treatment she received was not disclosed.
There was no official medical bulletin, but it was later
announced that, she was out of danger and recuperating.
Whilst admitted in the hospital, according to reports,
she started attending to her official duties. By 20
December, she was discharged from the hospital and was
again back at her official residence attending to
photo-sessions and appearing in the television. President
survived the so- called assassination attempt. The latest
medical report issued by the Sri Lankan High Commission
in London, after the conclusion of a complete medical
check up by the British doctors, clarified that President
does not require any surgery and she is fit to resume
normal duties forthwith. In the recent interview with BBC
she had said that she is beginning to loose sight in her
left eye. Kindly be remembered of the saying that
"All are not saints that goes to church."

The big question that looms in everyone's
mind, at this point of time is about whether there was
any serious assassination attempt on the life of the
President of by the most ruthless militant organization,
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam? (LTTE) Or, whether
some other organization or group was behind this failed
attempt? If someone who has followed and studied the
campaign tactics of the LTTE very closely, then it is
natural for them to have such-like lingering doubts in
their mind.

According to reports, there were two
separate bomb explosions on 18 December 1999. The first
one was at the Colombo Town hall venue, where People's
Alliance (PA) rally was held. Shortly afterwards, another
bomb exploded at the gathering of the main opposition's
UNP rally in Ja-ela, a Colombo suburb, killing at least
eight people, including a former army commander, Major
General Lucky Algama and wounding more than 70 people.

The UNP, the main opposition party, blamed
the ruling People's Alliance for the bomb blast, and
demanded an investigation by a team of officers from
Scotland Yard into the bomb explosions. Government
ignored the opposition's demand. Instead, the Inspector
General of Police said that, on the orders of the
President, two separate commissions consisting of police
officials were set up to investigate the bomb blasts.
Several people have voiced their concern about the hidden
motive behind such commissions led by local police
officers, instead of calling for impartial international
team of investigators.

According to reports, only one explosion was
heard at the PA rally, where the President attended, and
in which she survived, but the incident took a heavy toll
by killing 26 and wounding more than 107 people. It was a
chance survival that led to her election victory, but the
nature of the so called survival was intriguing one.

Every one including the media and the law
enforcement agencies have alleged that the attempt to
assassinate the President was the work of the Tamil
Tigers. When they saw a faceless dead person, a stump of
a female body that was mutilated by the bomb blast,
immediately a parallelism was drawn to that of the Rajiv
Gandhi's assassination. The ruling party leaders, the
police along with the local and international media,
screamed with a concocted story, that a female suicide
bomber was behind the assassination attempt on the life
of the President.

Why they rushed to judgment? What was the
motive in implicating the Tamil separatists in this
particular bomb blast? It was not the first bomb blast
during the election eve. On 14 November 1999, at an
election rally of the UNP held at Eppawala, 175 km north
of Colombo, a bomb blast was reported, where one died and
42 others injured. Ranil Wickremasinghe survived because
the bomb exploded immediately after he left the meeting
venue. Hundred of other incidents of violence and
intimidation were reported by the oppositions against the
goons of the ruling party. Unfortunately, the Government
failed to take any serious note against those complaints.
But when there was a bomb blast at the rally where the
President addressed, immediately they alleged without any
factual analysis or proven evidence, that it was the work
of the Tamil Tigers.

Are the LTTE behind this failed attempt? How
did they manage to penetrate the security cordon and
attempted to go near to the President? Why did they
fail?. Up to now, no one has come forward with any
plausible reply. Why? Is it because the purpose of the
blast is over and the election victory is already
registered? Is it because no one is no more interested in
finding any reply? Is it because every one knew the
answers, but are not able or unwilling to divulge
details? These lingering questions need answers.

What ever said and done, the LTTE is an
organization that does things to its maximum perfection.
They have successfully attacked their enemies on numerous
occasions. Up to now, according to analysis, their hate
and vengeance campaign, considered a part of their
liberation war, were completed with one hundred percent
perfection. They plan professionally without giving room
for any let-ups or eventualities.

Tigers' vengeance killing said to have
started for the first time on 27 July 1975, when they
first targeted Alfred Durriyappah, a former Mayor of
Jaffna, penultimately on 29 July 1999, that of Neelan
Thiruchelvam, the member of Parliament, Deputy leader of
the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the
internationally reputed constitutional lawyer, and
ultimately on 2 September 1999, that of the serial killer
and terror N. Manikkathasan, the Deputy Leader of the
People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE),
where in those operations, they have meticulously planned
and successfully attacked their targets. It was said that
they have failed only in the case of M.Sivasithamparam,
President of TULF. Again it was told that on 13 July,1989
the target of their attack was only Appapillai
Amirthalingham, the Secretary General of the TULF and not
any one else. Unfortunately, Sivasithamparam, on that
fateful day was at a wrong place and at a wrong time.
Assassins were forced to silence him by spraying bullets
on him, but not to kill him. That is why he survived.
Further we received conflicting reports that the set of
assassins who went to target Amirthalingham went without
any implicit orders of the LTTE high command due to some
serious mix-ups.

The above fact goes to prove of the
professional approach of the LTTE in their hate killing
campaigns. One has to conclude that the alleged attempt
on the life of the President is not the hall mark of a
professional maneuver of the Tigers. Therefore, it is
very hard to digest that the Tigers were behind the
failed attempt. If the Tigers were the culprits who have
attempted such a heinous crime on the life of the
President of the country, they would not have failed on
their targets and there is no question of survival.
Taking into consideration of all their previous
campaigns, they have succeeded one hundred percent with
their targets. Even if we take it for granted that this
time there was a slip in their planning, why the back-up
team of the LTTE finish the job? We have seen in all
their operations that there was always a back-up team
ready to pounce on the target, in case the initial
operation fails. Those who follow the LTTE's operations
would agree with me.

In the case of the failed assassination
attempt on the life of Chandrika Kumaratunga, we have not
heard of the presence of the Tiger back-up team pouncing
on the President, when the exploded bomb was not fatal
enough. This goes to show that the failed attempt was not
the work of the separatist Tamil militants. This
error-prone operation was the handy work of some novices
hired by some individual or group to create confusion in
the minds of the voting public of Sri Lanka and with the
sole intention to create a wave of sympathy.

Even the Sri Lankan security forces who have
analyzed every single operation conducted by the Tigers
are aware of the operational tactics of the Tiger's. Why
they went along with the PA leaders in blaming the Tigers
is still a mystery. May be they were ordered to remain
silence by the superiors. This is only a guess and need
confirmation.

It was highly unfortunate that the
international print and electronic media representatives
have failed to analyze the nomenclature of the bomb
explosion. In haste and in the heat of the unfolding
events, they have wrongly jumped to conclusions hoping
that no one would question their judgments. Any how, even
though these journalists are to be blamed for this
protracted ethnic conflict by reporting partisan views,
but they cannot be blamed, as most of those
representatives are from the Sinhalese ethnicity and also
they are not specialists other than, reporters of events.
In the heat of the moment, they might have been prey to
the main players, by filing their reports alleging the
bomb explosion as the handy work of the Tigers.

The most intriguing aspect in this
Presidential election is the role played by the former
Tamil militants, who presently work with the Sri Lankan
armed forces as para-military forces, as well as with the
President, as a counter LTTE arm. Even earlier, in the
Presidential election held on 19 December 1988, where
Ranasinghe Premadasa successfully competed and won the
presidency, as well as in the general elections for the
ninth parliament held on 15 February 1989, it was alleged
that the former Tamil militants played a very significant
role in the victory of Premadasa and the UNP, in the
Presidential and parliamentary elections.

The very same former Tamil militants, who
are presently with Chandrika Kumaratunge, earlier worked
closely with Premadasa during the height of the Sinhalese
youths' insurrection. In 1988, the Southern and Western
part of the country experienced the upsurge of the Janata
Vimukthi Perumuna (Peoples Liberation Front, JVP)
insurrection. In 1988, Vijay Kumaratunge, the actor
turned politician and the spouse of the present President
was also a victim of the Marxist oriented Sinhalese
terrorist organization. At that particular point of time,
fearing for the safety of her children, Chandrika
Kumaratunge quietly slipped out of Sri Lanka with her two
children to London and returned only after a lapse of two
years, when Premadasa completely routed the Sinhalese
insurgents.

According to reports it was alleged that
Premadasa deployed in each parliamentary constituency, a
group consisting of nearly 25 hard-core former Tamil
militants under the infamous Green Tigers to intimidate
the Sinhalese voters. It was alleged that the covert and
clandestine operations of the former Tamil militants in
the predominantly Sinhalese populated urban and rural
areas bore fruit and thus helped Premadasa in his
election.

Similarly, political analysts are of the
view that the ruling party has employed the former Tamil
militants to intimidate voters and also to disrupt
election rallies of the oppositions. As these former
Tamil militants possessed skill in handling bombs and
other explosive materials, the ruling party might have
commandeered the services of these militants for all the
dirty works during the election campaign. May be it is
highly speculated that one of the work must have been the
bombing of the PA rally, without causing any bodily harm
to the President, to generate sympathy of the Sinhalese
chauvinist voters.

In the meantime, Colombo Chief Magistrate
D.G.Kulatileke ordered the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) to review the video film relating to the
bomb blast at the last election campaign meeting of the
People's Alliance at the Town Hall at which 26 people
were killed and several others, including the President
were wounded. The court made the directive at the
Magisterial Inquiry into the deaths.

The court held that the deaths were as a
result of the bomb blast. The court also ordered the CID
to hand over the video film to its custody after viewing
it.

Political observers feel that transparency
and accountabilities are two important elements lacking
with the Sri Lankan government. They further feel that
the Government's disregard and contempt for human rights
of the Tamils have resulted in barbarous acts that have
outraged the conscience of the humanity. Anyhow the
compelling points raised above need truthful answers. Is
it possible to get such answers soon? May be one day the
culprits would come out with the harrowing story? It is
our hope against hope until the naked truth prevails over
half truths, fabricated lies and misinformation
campaigns.